We’re Back!

Did you miss us? Thanks, we missed you, too. 

After a three-week hiatus, New Mexico in Focus returns this week with an all-new episode built around a cornerstone of our mission: election coverage. And we’re kicking things off with the biggest statewide race on the ticket this year: the race for governor between Democrat Deb Haaland and Republican Gregg Hull. They are, of course, both looking to step in when termed-out Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham leaves office on Dec. 31. 

Most if not all of you are familiar with the “debate over debates” — or, as I prefer to call it, Abbott and Costello routine — that’s been playing out in this race over the last several weeks. You can explore the long of it here, here and here. But for brevity’s sake, the short of it is that Hull and Haaland are unlikely to share a debate stage before Election Day. 

To be clear, NMPBS was not a party to any of these ultimately failed debate negotiations; we did not offer that sort of event to either campaign. Instead, we are covering the race in the format we’ve settled into the last few years, one we hope will give you a clearer look at the candidates’ pitches for the top job in state government than a made-for-social-media cage fight or a joint news conference: in-depth interviews with Hull and Haaland. 

You can also watch those conversations on our YouTube page.
 
And buckle up — we’re gonna bring you a whole mess of these kinds of interviews over the course of the next month. Here’s the coverage schedule:  

Oct. 9: Both candidates for the soon-to-be vacant state Commissioner of Public Lands job — and we’ll have a story from the field that matches the theme of that race, too, plus a debate over the constitutional amendment on this year’s ballot that would create salaries for lawmakers. 

Oct. 16: The race for New Mexico’s Congressional District 2 is one of the most closely watched in the country — with the balance of power in Congress potentially hanging in the balance — and we’ll dive deep with both candidates in that contest.
 
Oct. 23: Congressional District 1 takes the spotlight, alongside one of the candidates for the open New Mexico Secretary of State position. 

Oct. 30: We’ll round things out with Congressional District 3 and the other nominee for SoS. 

As I said, we’re thrilled to be back, and I hope you’ll follow along as we eschew the age-old question, “Who’s on First?” and do our election coverage thing. 

– Jeff Proctor, Executive Producer